Archaeologists have discovered the first direct evidence of a gladiator mauled by a lion. The skeleton, discovered two decades ago in a Roman settlement in Britain, offers new insight into the brutal spectacles that once captivated audiences in the Roman Empire.
The remains were found in an excavation initiated by a couple hoping to renovate their backyard in York, England. The site contained over 80 buried individuals, primarily young men showing signs of trauma, as per a study published in the journal PLOS.
Many of these individuals are believed to have fought as gladiators in York, then a Roman outpost, around 1,800 years ago. One skeleton, identified as 6DT19, stood out due to unusual injuries: small indentations on its hip bones, which appeared to be bite marks from a large animal, possibly a lion.
Gladiators were armed fighters in ancient Rome who entertained audiences by battling each other or wild animals in arenas.
Tim Thompson, an anthropologist at Maynooth University in Ireland, who co-authored a paper on the discovery, described Britain as being "rich" in Roman archaeology, as per The NY Times, adding, "You pretty much can't shove a spade in the ground without hitting something ancient and archaeological."
Mr Thompson, upon further investigation, realised no physical evidence had been found until now to confirm gladiator combat with big cats.
To explore the origins of these bite marks, he and his team compared the indentations on 6DT19's hip bones to bite marks found on animal carcasses in British zoos. By analysing cheetah, lion, and tiger remains, they concluded that the bite marks on the ancient skeleton matched those of a lion.
Mr Thompson suggested that the lion's bite was not likely the cause of death. He said, "We think the individual was incapacitated in some way, and then the animal came along, bit and dragged the body away."
Kathryn Marklein, an anthropologist at the University of Louisville, said the discovery offered insight into life at the edges of the Roman Empire and the state-sponsored violence inherent in public gladiatorial games.
These spectacles, often involving wild animals like lions, were not only a form of entertainment but also a demonstration of Roman power.
"The amount of resources - animal, human - that went into these spectacles to reinforce what it meant to be a Roman, and to be a good Roman, is staggering," Ms Marklein said.
Public gladiatorial games, she added, were designed to impress upon the audience the might of the empire.
